• Wholeness on April 11, 2021

  Kindle version updated the corrections that were made here Errata: https://www.carolewalter.com/coffeecakecorrections.html

• rionafaith on February 26, 2017

  Errata: https://www.carolewalter.com/coffeecakecorrections.html

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Butter pecan pound cake

  • dbuhler on July 30, 2024

    We really loved the flavor of this cake, but it was definitely too sweet for me. I also had a bit of trouble with the texture (very crumbly and dry), but I am at high altitude and I didn't make any adjustments to the ingredients. I don't think I will make this recipe again, but I will use it as inspiration to flavor a different cake recipe that works better for me at my altitude.

• Nut-crusted orange pound cake

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Correction note from author's website https://www.carolewalter.com/coffeecakecorrections.html Step 6 should read: Add the “orange zest” and mix….

• Classic sour cream cinnamon and nut coffee cake

  • nadiam1000 on November 06, 2016

    I used 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon for the topping. I baked for less than an hour and it was done. Very rich and moist

  • mamacrumbcake on November 02, 2019

    Homey and comforting, this cake is an example of sour cream coffee cake at its very best. There is nothing unusual or exotic here; it tastes like what you expect, or rather hope for, in a coffee cake, but seldom find. The cake is rich and moist, and very fragrant with toasted pecans and cinnamon. Usually the cake part takes a back seat to the topping and swirl, but this cake, by itself, is delicious. The recipe says that the cake needs 1 hour and 15 minutes in the oven. My previous notes said that this cake is done in an hour, but it could have come out even earlier—you can start to smell the cake at 45 minutes. Plan ahead if you want to make this cake: the sour cream mixed with baking soda needs to sit for an hour prior to making the batter and the pecans need to be toasted. PS if your cinnamon is old, get a fresh jar!

• Banana chocolate chip cake

  • mirage on March 16, 2011

    Lovely texture

• Sour cream marble cake

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Correction note from author's website https://www.carolewalter.com/coffeecakecorrections.html. Correct measurement for baking powder should read: 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

• Brown butter almond cake

  • ashallen on July 02, 2022

    This is a lovely variation on a financier/visitandine-type cake - pretty, very buttery with rum and almond flavors, tender, and a lighter crumb than traditional financiers that makes it better suited to serving as a cake slice. I also found it to be very practical - it uses up lots of egg whites (there are always too many in my freezer), it was easy to pull together (with a food processor and stand mixer), uses ingredients I usually have in my pantry, and keeps well over several days. I removed the cake from the oven when the center was 193-195F, but I think that was too soon since the center sagged a little during cooling and was quite moist (moisture level was better after it sat overnight). Next time I'll bring my egg whites up to room temperature before mixing the cake (forgot to do it this time) and see if that helps the center cook faster.

• Caramel-glazed blackberry jam cake

  • Thredbende on August 10, 2011

    This is a fantastic cake! I made it with 2 year old blubarb jam to use it up and followed the recipe otherwise exactly. The caramel glaze with toasted pecans really sets it off. My husband sent a couple comments back this morning after I sent him off to the office with it: "Wonderful cake. Does she have her own bakery? It's really good! "It's a work of art." "That was absolutely delicious. Tell you wife thank you very much." I toasted the pecans on a pie plate in the microwave for in one minute pulses until they were fragrant and used watered down plain yogurt for buttermilk. It came out of the bundt pan easily and cleanly.

• Greek semolina coffee cake with orange syrup

  • AKF on January 17, 2015

    This cake is mildly sweet without use of Orange Syrup, but I prefer with Syrup. For this cake I substituted 1.5 oz of almond flour for slivered almonds. I used much more orange peel in cake, about a tablespoon rather than a teaspoon. I separated eggs and mixed yolks with butter and half of sugar, and whipped the whites with half the sugar, and then mixed dry ingredients, a third of the dry ingredients at a time. I then mixed in whipped whites in about two additions.

• Favorite vanilla muffins

  • ashallen on July 28, 2022

    These are really nice, "plain" muffins if you're looking for something simple or to serve as a base for batter additions, jams, or other toppings. Definitely more cake-like than bread-like, though not sticky sweet. Texture was excellent - moist but not at all gummy, a bit of springiness, and tender without completely falling to bits when handled. My only quibble with the recipe is that it calls for adding the vanilla to the butter before the butter's been creamed somewhat. This resulted in butter lumps sliding uselessly around inside my stand mixer bowl and kicked up a fine vanilla spray. Next time I'll add the vanilla after the butter's creamed a bit.

  • ashallen on July 28, 2022

    Almond Crunch Muffins (variation of Favorite Vanilla Muffins): Great muffins - my husband declared them to be "the best muffins ever." Very much like miniature coffee crumb cakes though not as sweet. Excellent texture that was moist without any gumminess and a bit of crunch from the streusel. These were magical warm from the oven but leftovers did well after a quick reheat in the microwave. My only quibble with the recipe is that it calls for adding the vanilla to the butter before the butter's been creamed somewhat. This resulted in butter lumps sliding uselessly around inside my stand mixer bowl and kicked up a fine vanilla spray. Next time I'll add the vanilla after the butter's creamed a bit.

  • fultre on January 20, 2023

    I made the Almond Crunch variation, except used Carole’s Favorite Streusel (giving as a gift and didn’t know about nut allergies, and this is nut free). Made the large version of the streusel, and had leftovers. I wanted a defined inner layer of streusel, so I scooped half of muffin batter in each liner, then a streusel layer, then second half of muffin batter, followed by more generous 2nd streusel layer. Curious how it would turn out by using her more simple method of sprinkling half of streusel over batter before scooping into muffins cups. Wish I had read ashallen’s note beforehand about butter sliding around in the vanilla; will cream butter sans vanilla next time. These are delicious, like a coffee cake in muffin form.

• Sam's oodles of apple muffins with country crumb topping

  • Rachaelsb on November 10, 2019

    DELICIOUS!! I always have great luck with this Carole Walter cookbook and these muffins are no exception. They are a bit labor intense but so moist, apple-y and satisfying. Nuts, both in topping and muffin, add a great textured element.

• Banana date muffins

  • Rachaelsb on November 24, 2019

    I love this cookbook - recipes consistently work and great homey flavor. This banana date muffin is no exception :-)

• Lemon poppy seed muffins

  • Rachaelsb on December 09, 2017

    really delish!!...make sure don't overmix; a little top heavy when just use one 12 cup muffin pan.

  • fultre on January 29, 2022

    Yum! Used regular granulated sugar, half whole wheat flour (since I had leftover 50/50 mix), sprinkled tops with sparkling sugar. Next time will use all AP flour as they were slightly heavy/dense.

• "Too good to be true" bran muffins

  • Rachaelsb on November 08, 2020

    A darker flavored bran muffin-nice flavor-not subtle;next time will prob add more raisins and pecans to break up flavor intensity.

• Old-fashioned buttermilk biscuits

  • Rachaelsb on February 09, 2019

    Easy to make; light but full flavor. Perfect with beef stew

• Country cherry honey scones

  • dbuhler on March 21, 2026

    I really like the flavor and texture of these scones, but I didn't love the instructions to make a "skin" of flour on the outside. It did make them easier to handle, but the flour coating the outside of the scones was detected in the final baked scone. Next time I will use less flour for that step. I will also add the chopped dried cherries with the wet ingredients because dry flour clung to the cut sides of the cherries when they were added to the flour first.

• Cinnamon buns

  • Rachaelsb on December 09, 2017

    The absolute best. Have long sought...more like obsessed... a cinnamon bun like we get during the summer on Martha's Vineyard at Humphries. These are perfect and really fun to make as well.

• Super moist brownies

  • Pizzacat13 on November 23, 2021

    Reliable recipe that makes absolutely amazing fail-proof dense beautiful chocolatey brownies, tried this with and without nuts- both versions are stellar. Quality of chocolate you use does matter however.

• Almond crunch streusel

  • mamacrumbcake on July 13, 2016

    The following is a correction to the recipe from http://www.carolewalter.com/coffeecakecorrections.html CRUNCH STREUSEL (page 351) Steps 1 & 2 should read: 1. Position the shelf in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with Silpat or Release aluminum foil. Set aside. 2. Beat the egg white in a small bowl until foamy. Add the sugar and almonds and toss to coat. Spread the almonds on the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and using a spatula, turn the almonds over and break up the large pieces as best you can. Bake for another 8 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown. When cool enough to handle, break the nuts into smaller pieces.

  • ashallen on July 28, 2022

    This recipe was definitely more of a project than my usual streusel (for which I just moosh butter, flour, sugar, and maybe some nuts around in a bowl until it looks about right), but the end result was very nice and my husband declared the muffins I made with it (Almond Crunch Muffins from the same book) to be "the best muffins ever." The streusel looked a bit wet right after mixing but had a great texture once it'd had a chance to sit while I pulled together the rest of the muffin recipe. After rereading the recipe, I realized that I wasn't supposed to fully melt the butter (oops), so that probably explains why the streusel seemed a bit wet.

• Butter-nut streusel

  • ashallen on May 23, 2021

    Correction note from author's website https://www.carolewalter.com/coffeecakecorrections.html. Makes: Enough for one 10-inch round or 9 x 13 x 2-inch coffee cake Or 16 –18 muffins ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter ½ cup sugar ? cup slivered almonds ¼ teaspoon almond extract 1 ? cups all-purpose flour, spooned in and leveled ? teaspoon salt 1. Place the butter in a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan and heat until almost melted; remove from the heat. 2. Place the sugar, almonds and extract in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse 6 – 8 times, then process until the almonds are finely chopped. Add the flour and salt and pulse to combine. 3. Empty the almond mixture into the butter, then toss with a fork until crumbs are formed. Gently squeeze the mixture with your hand to form larger lumps, then break them apart with your finger tips. Before using, let the streusel stand at least 10 to 15 minutes.

• Country crumb topping

  • dbuhler on March 10, 2026

    This is a delicious streusel topping! It was very good on top of the apple muffins.